Southeast San Francisco is made up of several mostly residential neighborhoods of San Francisco bounded on the north and west by I-280, the 101 highway, and 16th Street, the east by the San Francisco Bay, and on the south by the city limits.

Contents

Understand

Bayview-Hunter's Point is bounded roughly by Cesar Chavez to the north, the 101 freeway to the west, and the San Francisco Bay to the east. When the Navy closed the Naval Shipyard (the site of the first dry-dock on the West Coast and a major population draw), it also cut the jobs that the Shipyard provided. As jobs left, crime rose, and Hunters Point is now one of the worst neighborhoods of the city. It is however turning around slowly, and people who live there say it's not as bad as it was 10 years ago. New apartments are being built and the Muni Metro (public transit) has been extended.

Dogpatch[31] is a diverse neighborhood on the eastern edge of Potrero Hill, recognized as an historic district by the city in 2003.

The Excelsior is part of the area known as the Outer Mission. The district is a mostly residential and filled with working class neighborhoods.

Ingleside is a mostly residential neighborhood tucked between San Francisco State University on the west and City College of San Francisco on the east. Directly south is Daly City. Ocean Ave is the main commercial corridor of this neighborhood. A new shopping district on Alemany Boulevard across the highway from the Daly City BART stop in the south section of this neighborhood promises several restaurants as well as shopping.

Portolá is a mostly residential district bounded by 101, 280, University Ave and Mansell St.

Potrero Hill is a district located east of the Mission District and south of SoMa. It is bordered on the north by 16th Street, on the west by Potrero Avenue (U.S. Route 101), and on the south by Cesar Chavez Street.

Visitacion Valley is a district bordered roughly by John McLaren Park to the west, Mansell Boulevard to the north, Bayview Hill and Candlestick Cove to the east, and the San Francisco/San Mateo County line to the south.

Get in

Southeast San Francisco Map

The MUNI Metro serves several neighborhoods of Southeast San Francisco. The T-Third line light rail runs the length of 3rd Street from Downtown through Potrero Hill and Bayview-Hunters Point to its southern terminus at Bay Shore Blvd and Sunnydale Avenue in Visitacion Valley. On the other side of Southeast San Francisco, the J, K and M lines meet up at the Balboa Park station near Ingleside. The M and K lines actually run through Ingleside, while the J line runs north through Noe Valley and the Castro.

BART, the regional metro system, stops at the Balboa Park MUNI Metro station as well as the Glen Park station (also serviced by MUNI Metro J line) just to the north, before continuing on through the Mission district to Downtown and across the bay. Caltrain, a commuter rail running south from Downtown to San Jose, has two stops in Southeast San Francisco: the 22nd Street station on Pennsylvania and 22nd Streets, and the Bayshore station on Tunnel Avenue south of Bayshore Blvd, near the end of the MUNI Metro T line.

See

Bayview Opera House Ruth Williams Memorial Theater, 4705 Third Street (between Newcomb and Oakdale), ☎+1 415 824-0386, [2]. A wooden structure built in 1888 and now used as a community meeting center.

Bayview Park. Overlooking Candlestick Park, this park has great panoramic views of the bay. Not one of San Francisco's better maintained parks.

Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, 1150 Carroll Avenue (east of Ingalls), ☎+1 415 671-0145, [3]. Right on the Bay is this actually very nice and undervisited park. It's very green, actually has functioning benches and BBQ pits, and a small fishing pier. You are also likely to spot windsurfers who come to this windy spot on the Bay.

City College of San Francisco, ☎+1 415 239-3000, [4]. See Murals by Diego Rivera at the City College Campus on Ocean Avenue [5]. Also visit the Southeast Campus [6] at 1800 Oakdale Avenue - built as a mitigation measure in 1987 in return for the Bayview Hunters Point (BVHP) community's acceptance of the Southeast Water Treatment Plant in the midst of their neighborhood.

Heron's Head Park, Pier 98. A 24-acre restored wetland at the base of the Hunters Point Power Plant.

John McLaren Park, [8]. At 317 acres, this is the second largest park in San Francisco, and is located smack dab in Visitacion Valley. Recently cleaned up, this park is still under used. With rolling hills and views galore, this is the best place in the city to get away from it. If you have a dog, bring it to the reservoir on Shelley Drive where there is a large off-leash area where your pet can romp in the fields or swim in the water. There is an amphitheater, a duck pond, multiple playgrounds, some great hiking trails, and a few tennis courts.

San Francisco Naval Shipyard. If you are feeling adventurous, try visiting the abandoned shipyard at Hunter's Point.

Java on Ocean Cafe, 1700 Ocean Ave (at Faxon), ☎+1 415 333-6075. A locally owned coffee shop with sandwiches and Middle Eastern fare. Get a quick bite to eat or stay and have a cappuccino while surfing the internet. They provide paid terminals or paid wireless access through the ZRNet subscription service. The owners have outfitted this joint with Salvation Army sofas and chairs and play eclectic music on the stereo.

7-Mile House, 2800 Bayshore Blvd (at Geneva), ☎+1 415 467-2343, [20]. M-Th 11:30AM-10PM, F-Sa 11:30AM-2AM. The 7-Mile House is a historic landmark and a great place to get some food. During the days of the gold rush, the 7-mile house served as a resting post for horse coaches travelling from San Francisco (Embarcadero) to San Jose. This was a place to rest your horses, get some beer and share stories of finding gold. Today, the place boasts an authentic gold rush decor, great beer and burgers and live music most days of the week.

Drink

Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th Street (at Missouri), ☎+1 415 621-4455, [22]. Sa-Th 8:30PM-2AM, F 4PM-2AM. Chosen by Rolling Stone magazine (RS 813) as "the best place to hear live music in San Francisco", the Bottom of the Hill presents some of the finest original artists, seven nights a week. It has a full bar and a kitchen and also features a nice patio area to escape the crowd and have a smoke.

Blooms Tavern, 1318 18th Street (between Missouri and Texas), ☎+1 415 552-6707. M-Sa 11:30AM-1:30AM, Su 10AM-1:30AM. One of the few remaining true blue-collar watering holes around, this is very much a neighborhood bar and a great place to go to watch baseball and football games. No around-the-shoulder cuffed-sweaters, khaki pants, or tassle-loafer wearin' folks in this joint, but lots of friendly folks, and during Giants or 49ers games, cheers and boos can be heard from a good block away. One of the best views in the city is from out the back porch, which regrettably is now only open during the day. Not a quiet bar, but the back seating area is a good place to meet friends for a 'mellow' beer and chit-chat after dinner or work. All of the sports watching and local gossip takes place up towards the front. Friendly staff; no airheads allowed.

Sleep

There are few lodging opportunities in this area, and those that are here are often run-down motels along the main streets which unfortunately have a reputation for attracting drug dealers, crime, and general uncleanliness of the motels themselves; not to mention that they are far from the city's main attractions. There are some very affordable and generally nicer accommodations closer to the tourist neighborhoods and just south in Daly City.